Bridge Project is dedicated to exposing the conservative movement’s dishonest tactics, dismantling its extreme ideology, and shining light on the moneyed special interests that fund it.

Issues: Immigration

It’s been one day since the deadly terrorist attack in New York City and President Trump is taunting the home state Senator on Twitter with lies about his record and calling for immigration bans steeped in Islamophobia. As we’ve sadly come to expect from this President, he has shown once again moments that require leadership, unity, and compassion completely evade him.

1. Why is President Trump calling for policy changes right out of the gate after yesterday’s terrorist attack in New York City but insisted it was not time talk about reforms after the terrorist attack in Las Vegas that killed 59 people and injured more than 500 more?

2. Does President Trump support Senator Grassley’s legislation to enforce registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act in the wake of Paul Manafort’s […]

Politicians & Pundits

“Over the past few weeks, Donald Trump praised neo-Nazis, pardoned a racist criminal convicted of jailing people based on the color of their skin, and he’s now authorizing the mass-deportation of young people who have done nothing wrong. Trump’s actions will force a million people out of the country, break up hundreds of thousands of families, and throw away the contributions that a generation of young immigrants would have made to the United States — all in the name of a partisan agenda that solely caters to extremists in his party.

“DACA recipients are the best of us; young people who, despite difficult circumstances and challenges, achieve success and make the best lives they can for themselves and their families. They are the epitome of the American dream that Donald Trump is hell-bent on undermining.”

Issues

Politicians & Pundits

It’s hard when you can see what’s wrong, but you can’t do anything to correct it. That’s how the Republican Party must feel about CPAC. As thousands of conservative Republicans arrive in Washington, DC for the three-day jamboree, the Republican Party will have to balance how to appease its right-wing base but still attract and win over women, immigrants, and the youth vote.

From the looks of CPAC’s agenda, panel discussions, and guest speakers, the GOP has waved the white flag.

Check out this list of speakers, panels, and activists who will have a mic at CPAC:

The Kochs are terrified of the pope’s teachings because they threaten what the billionaire brothers worship most, their bank accounts. Bridge Project’s new report, reveals how the Koch network has attacked Pope Francis and targeted his teachings on the economy, immigration, climate change, fair pay, and more.

At the crux of the differences between the billionaire Koch brothers and Pope Francis is their starkly contrasting world views. While the pope has pleaded for his followers to reject the “trickle-down” policies championed by billionaires like the Kochs, and pushed immigration as a “hallmark for our society,” the Kochs have […]

One of the ads will target the group’s executive director, Daniel Garza, whose past comments reveal the LIBRE Initiative’s true agenda. Garza has expressed outrage over DACA, the executive order protecting DREAMers, denouncing it as “pandering” and “dangerous,” and called DAPA — which would extend those protections to members of DREAMers’ families — “executive overreach.” A second ad will highlight a LIBRE Initiative spokesperson’s unabashedly offensive characterization of undocumented immigrants as “illegals.”

The truth is LIBRE Initiative’s sole mission is to promote the Koch agenda above all else — and it shamelessly does so at the expense of Hispanics, by actively campaigning […]

Issues

Organizations

Politicians & Pundits

It’s well documented that voter ID laws disproportionately disenfranchise Latinos, the same demographic for which the LIBRE Initiative claims to be advocating. Yet, the Koch-backed organization’s executive director, Daniel Garza, said he was in favor of the policy yesterday, with NBC News reporting Garza claims “he has no problem with requiring identification to vote because he believes in preserving the ‘integrity’ of the vote.”

The truth is: needless voter ID laws only serve to build up barriers to the ballot box for those that aren’t receptive to the Koch brothers’ regressive vision for America. As the New York Times noted on Monday, “There is virtually no in-person voter fraud; the purpose of these laws is to suppress voting.” Even a top RNC official admitted voter fraud is basically a straw-man of the right’s creation.

The report is a comprehensive look at the Koch-backed LIBRE Initiative that deceptively brands itself as a “grassroots organization” that pushes messages of “liberty, freedom and prosperity,” founded to “empower Hispanics.” The group is actually run by Republican operatives and financed almost entirely by the Koch network.

Issues

Organizations

Politicians & Pundits

Renowned xenophobes Reps. Steve King and Michele Bachmann have announced a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border today as part of their offensive offensive against President Obama’s action on immigration. Ever the moderate, Bachmann warned of “millions of unskilled, illiterate, foreign nationals coming into the United States who can’t speak the English language.” While King, who’s proposed a legal change to prevent the issuing of new visas, defended his obstructionist stance with a mature “we can do anything we want to.” After Speaker John Boehner’s five minute press conference on the matter this morning, Bachmann and King are effectively left as the de facto spokespeople for the Republican Party, driving their narrative and policy direction on the matter.

Issues

Politicians & Pundits

Yesterday, President Obama announced his plan to take action to address immigration reform. Today, House Speaker John Boehner will use his 9 a.m. address to try to explain away the Republican Party’s obstructionist plan to fight the President’s effort.

Yesterday, American Bridge sent you a list of the many other times Republicans have claimed the President “poisoned the well” on an issue. Today, we’re showing you those Republican claims – in their own words.

Politicians & Pundits

Ahead of President Obama’s immigration reform announcement today, American Bridge and People For the American Way are releasing a new video highlighting the continued offensive rhetoric from Congressional Republicans against immigrants and immigration reform.

“While Democrats have offered repeated olive branches to pass balanced, bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform, Republicans have refused to take action. Instead, Republicans have shown their true colors by spending their time playing obstructionist games and making distasteful comments about immigrants in this country,” said American Bridge Vice President Eddie Vale.

“Time and again, Republicans have resorted to offensive, dehumanizing rhetoric about the Latino community,” said People For the American Way President Michael Keegan. “Instead of listening to the majority of Americans and working to fix our broken immigration system, GOP leaders continue to cater to their anti-Latino, anti-immigrant base.”